Journey Through Shadows
by tazkol the master of emeralds
Summary: Ash is board after two years of doing nothing. Then Ash's brother phones up with an offer, Max wants to travel with Ash and Dawns boyfriends is missing? A new region, a new adventure and even a new friend. Now throw in a professors blind daughter.


okay i'm to lazy to make a disclaimer for every chapter so i'm gonna make one big one for all of you there at home who took the bother to read my story.

disclaimer: i do not own any of the following...

i do not own or claim to own pokemon in general, i do not own the concept the game idea or the anime. i do not own any of the pokemon already existing and i probably won't own any of the real pokemon that ever exist. i do not own ash ketchum, deliha ketchum, misty waterflower, max ruby, dawn hikari, brock slate, jessie, james, meowth, giovanni or basicaly anything pokemon related you recognise.

thanks two Ryu the Weredragon for allowing me to use his char's alexander ketchum and luna. thanks to him also for the idea for ash, misty, max, sarah and brocks wereball enhanced forms.

thanks also to vulpix trainer for allowing me to use his characters the hamlet brothers, there murkrow and juinor the black mew baby. thanks to him as well for editing my horrible spelling and lack of punctuation.

special thanks to the both of them for helping me come up with the starter types for the kage region. as well as the fossile types and there continuing help to fill the kage dex for this story. and anything else i forgot to mention.

now that everbody knows what i don't own, here's what i do own...

i own the kage region, most of the native kage pokemon, i own the pokegauntlet, i own wereballs, i own teams purity and unity, there respective leaders, the legendaries of kage, the league of kage, the kage gym leaders and there respective badges, the new evoloutions for pikachua and garadyos i own raymond ketchum, professer pine(although the name has probrably been used by others) i own mark macovelle and i own sarah pine and though i do not own mightyenna i own magnus the seeing eye mightyenna and the concept of a seeing eye mightyenna. i own the unmade new team rocket modo and i own probably any new inventions in here. however the kage pokedex is still quite empty and if anyone has any ideas for a new pokemon that isn't godmoded i am willing to listen and if i use it i'll be sure to credit you.

i am well aware my spelling and grammer are not that great so please don't center on that but if you have any constructive critisism or suggestions feel free to review. but no and i repeat NO flames well be read and well be immediatly discarded. and yes the parings are set. if any concept in this story that i happened to inevnt apeals to you and you'd like to use it in one of your own stories, please ask first. also this is my first pokemon story so please give it a chance. thank you!

_**Journey through Shadows Chapter One**_

_Ash sighed as he got up out of bed, same old same old it seemed. It had been a full two years since he had finished in Sinnoh. Now all the aspiring master could do was waiting for his chance to go through Kanto again. Something that would take another year, a lot had happened after two years. After leaving Dawn home in Sinnoh Ash returned to pallet, his mother was ecstatic to have him home. Brock had to leave three days later to return home to pewter. Ash had spent the days practicing for the Kanto league again as well as helping Professor Oak with the Pokémon ranch and taking small trips to Cerulean to visit a certain red head. About a year ago he had walked into the gym at the wrong time or the right time depending on your point of view. _

_Ash had walked into the Cerulean City Gym at the tail end of a League inspection, an inspection that had not gone so hot. The league had decided to cut funding to what it would call 'dead weight' gyms. Even though Misty had proven over the years to be a more then competent gym leader, the league had uncovered evidence that her sisters had been siphoning money from the league to not only fund there shows but also pay for there over expensive tastes. Luckily Misty had been relieved of suspicion by Sabrina. Misty had been quite broken up about the gym closing down though and had fallen into the arms of the closest person around. Who just happened to be Ash, the stress of this combined with loneliness as her sisters having been hauled off to jail lead Misty to reveal her feelings for Ash. This in turn led to Ash revealing his feelings for Misty._

_With little more than that she could fit in a suit case, her life savings, her Pokémon, and a small trust fund her parents had set up for her that her sisters had not found, Misty moved to Pallet Town and stayed with Ash and Deliha. Of course Deliha insisted the two stay in different rooms until they got married, she smiled when she had said this because they had already began to date now._

_By now, a normal morning had Ash getting up in the morning with a sigh, Pikachu followed suit. Much like his trainer, the electric mouse Pokémon was bored. Ash took a shower, got dressed, groomed Pikachu with a special brush deliha had gotten him and the two went down for breakfast. Misty smiled when she saw Ash and Pikachu walk into the kitchen. Delilah had laid out a spread fit for a Pokémon Master, just like every day. Ash and Pikachu ate there fill, thanked his mom and got ready to head to Oak__'__s Lab when the phone rang._

"_RING RING! RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!" the phone rang as over enthusiastic as always._

"_I got it mom" Ash said as he walked over and picked up the receiver "hello Ketchum residence Ash speaking" Ash said._

"_Hey there Ash! Long time no see" a voice said right before the video kicked in revealing someone who looked to be an older version of Ash. _

"_Whoa! Alex! We haven__'__t heard from you in ages" Ash said. Alexander Ketchum was Ash__'__s older brother and one of two previous Ketchum trainers to obtain the rank of Pokémon Master. Do to the publicity attached to the title Alex spent a lot of time away from home so as to stay out of the public eye. Both Delia and Ash had not heard from Alex in over seven years. The last time they spoke was after Ash had won the Orange League and that had been in secret. As Alexander was speaking Misty walked into the room. The two locked eye__'__s for a minute. "Misty your just in time! Misty this in my brother Alex, Alex this is my girlfriend Misty"_

"_We__'__ve met before Ash" Alex said "at the annual official league opener I believe" _

"_Yeah! But I thought the last name was just a coincidence, Ash I didn__'__t realize you had a brother, never mind the current Master" Misty said_

"_Alex isn__'__t really home much, the last time he was here was when our uncle Raymond died and I was about six when that happened" Ash replied somberly remembering a little about the funeral and Alex__'__s visit_

"_Wait a minute here, Raymond Ketchum? As in the previous Master?" Misty asked_

"_yeah our family has been training Pokémon for the last six generations, my uncle Raymond was the first family member to become a master, Alex here was the second" Ash said, beaming with pride for his families past._

"_With a little luck Ash here well be the next one to have a picture in the hall of Masters." Alex said "Anyway, Ash the reason that I called is that I dug myself a hole and I need a favor.__"_

"_As in what exactly?" Ash asked, it was not like his brother to dig himself a hole at all, that was why he looked up to him in the first place._

"_You ever heard of the kage region?" Alex asked. Ash shook his head but Misty seemed to recognize the name._

"_You mean that region out past Sinnoh? The one that the league keeps quiet about because it__'__s unusually ruff and the land is full of natural hazards?" Misty asked_

"_Yeah that one!" Alex said sweat dropping "See the Professor there, Professor Pine, he has a daughter Sarah who is starting her Pokémon journey soon, but there__'__s a slight complication there"_

"_And that would be?" Ash asked_

"_She__'__s blind, she needs somebody to travel with her so that she doesn__'__t run into trouble" Alex explained "I promised her a while back I__'__d travel with her, but well something__'__s come up and I need to take care of it, so I won__'__t be there, so I was wondering if maybe you__'__d like to journey through Kage? Could you take her with you?" Alex asked_

"_I dunno Alex, the trip to Sinnoh last time was a pretty nice sum of money and this place you said is past Sinnoh, I__'__m not sure I can afford the trip" Ash said, indeed a lack of battling had lead to a lack of actual money coming in._

"_Oh! I can pay for the fair, heck I__'__ll even pay for anyone traveling with you, first class" Alex said "just leave a message at this number" a phone number appeared on the screen. "With the number of people going and I__'__ll have it arranged at the docks"_

"_well a free trip to a region I haven__'__t been to yet, a chance to explore new areas and meet new types of Pokémon, and the girl I__'__m going to meet most likely doesn__'__t have a bike! You got a deal Alex__" Ash grinned_

"_What was that about a bike?" Alex asked, the confusion was completely readable on his face, Ash sweat dropped as he scratched the back of his head._

"_lets just say when Ash is around, bikes have a high mortality rate" Misty said, a small smile as she couldn__'__t help but remember her own bike incident._

_Ash shot back in defense of himself. "It isn__'__t me; it is Pikachu that destroys the bikes." On his should Pikachu only give a sigh and a small chu sound._

"_Well I really got to run" Alex said, sweat dropping at the beginnings of a small argument. "Hopefully I__'__ll see you soon, say hi to mom for me" and the video screen flashed shut. Ash set down the receiver before looking at Misty._

"_I guess we should go pack" he said happily, Misty left the room, Ash turned to follow when the phone once again sprang to life. Ash snatched the receiver before the phone got far into its ring._

"_Hello Ketchum residence, Ash speaking" Ash said into the receiver. A face appeared on the screen; it was that of a twelve year old boy with medium length turquoise hair, he had swapped his huge round glasses for a slimmer pair and his shirt and shorts for a green hoodie and blue jeans. Behind him a Gaurdivior smiled happily. He may look different on the outside, but Ash could tell the boy was still Max._

"_Hey Ash!" max cheered_

"_Hey Max! Congratulations on beating the battle frontier! You and Gaurdivior really beat them to the ground" Ash Cheered, showing that he was proud of Max__'__s accomplishment._

"_T__hanks! Gaurdiviors really strong, May keeps trying to get me to let her use her in contests but Gaurdivior likes battling, right Gaurdivior?" Max turned to the embrace the Pokémon._

"_divior gaur" Gaurdivior stated with no uncertainty._

"_Anyway I__'__m phoning because I heard about this region out past Sinnoh, it__'__s supposed to be a good place to challenge Trainers" Max said_

"_You mean the Kage region right?" Ash asked_

"_Yeah! I want to go there but mom and dad say I can__'__t travel it alone and May won__'__t go cause there isn__'__t any contests in that region" max said_

"_Well Misty and I are going to be traveling that region soon, why don__'__t you come with us?" Ash offered._

_The effect was instant as Max__'__s eyes lit up "really? Great! I__'__ve wanted to travel with you for a long time since we parted ways a while back, when are we leaving?" His voice reminded Ash of a small pre trainer aged kid that would get excited over anything Pokémon, and he couldn__'__t help but smile. _

"_We haven__'__t really worked that out yet, but can you afford a ferry down here first? Then we can all travel from here" Ash said, his voice hoping that Max could afford the cost at least to Pallet Town._

"_No problem, I__'__ll grab the next ferry over, that means I should be there in about a week, see you soon Ash! I__'__m gonna go pack" the phone call ended as Max hurried away to go pack._

"_Now I can get Pikachu and we can start packing" Ash said as he went to get up, only for the phone to ring again!_

_Great! _Ash thought _today of all days the phone had to ring off the hook_

"Hello Ketchum residence…" Ash started only to be cut off by a very worried and familiar sounding voice.

"Ash?" the video flicked on to reveal a girl in her early teens with blue hair; by her looks she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep lately. Her hair was in a mess and there where bags under her eyes.

"Dawn? What happened? What's wrong?" Ash asked wondering why the normally happy dawn Hikari was so worried.

"Ash, I didn't know who else to ask for help, my boyfriend Mark Macovelle, he left on a two week business trip to the Kage Region, that was two months ago, I think something's wrong and I was wondering if you'd come with me to find him?" the girl asked "I know it's a long trip and all but please? I'm desperate"

"Whoa! Calm down dawn! Listen closely, I'm heading on a journey through Kage soon anyway, if you're really that worried you can travel with me and that way you can check around, I'm sure Mark is fine. Does that sound okay?" Ash tried to sound comforting

"Okay" dawn said

"Listen I'm not sure when we'll be leaving, so I'll call you with details tomorrow okay? You calm down, prepare for the trip and maybe get Misdreavous to use hypnosis to help you sleep okay?" the worried blue haired girl nodded.

"All right then I got to go now bye Dawn" Ash said, dawn simply nodded as Ash hung up the phone.

Ash shook his head as he went to find Pikachu, he had a eerie feeling that this would be one crazy Pokémon journey.

_Outside the Ketchum house_

"did you'se here dat?" Meowth asked

"There're going to a new region." James said

"A whole new area to explore" Jessie said

"And new Pokémon ta steal" Meowth said

"Looks like Team rocket is back in business!" the three said in unison

"Wabbuffet" the small blue blob Pokémon said as it saluted and ironically hit the self-destruct switch on the listening device the trio had been using to monitor the conversations. The device exploded in an explosion that surprisingly was both powerful enough to send the group flying, but weak enough not to damage anything.

"LOOKS LIKE WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGIAAANNN!!" the trio said as they were sent flying into the great blue yonder.

"Wabbuffet" the blue blob said as he followed them.


End file.
